Ferries from Spain to Morocco

Fourteen scheduled crossings connect Spanish ports with Morocco, and most of the decision is made before anyone compares a fare. It turns on which Moroccan port you actually want to stand in, and how far down Spain you are prepared to drive first.

Tangier city or Tanger Med

Two ports carry the Tangier name and they are not the same place. Tanger Ville is the old harbour below the medina, walking distance from the city. Tanger Med is a purpose-built terminal further east along the Strait: the port authority puts it 35 km from the eastern edge of Tangier and 54 km from the western side, about half an hour by motorway. One route still runs into the city itself, Tarifa to Tanger Ville, and it is also the shortest hop across the Strait. If the first afternoon is meant to be spent in Tangier rather than in a transfer, that is the crossing to build the trip around.

Algeciras to Tanger Med, the workhorse

Algeciras to Tanger Med takes about an hour and a half, with several sailings a day all year. In the Spanish government's summer traffic returns it is the busiest pair on the Strait by some margin, ahead of both Tarifa and Ceuta. Frequency is the whole argument: a missed departure costs an hour or two rather than a day, which matters with a car, a caravan or an onward booking in Fez. Tanger Med asks passengers to be at the port two hours before an Algeciras sailing, and five hours before the long crossings to Motril, Barcelona, Sète, Marseille and Genoa.

Ceuta is Spanish ground

Algeciras to Ceuta runs in roughly an hour, but it does not put you in Morocco. Ceuta is Spanish territory on the African coast, so the ship is a domestic sailing and the Moroccan frontier still lies ahead by road. Drivers bound for Tetouan and the Rif choose it deliberately; for anyone whose destination is Tangier it adds a land border to no purpose.

Passports are handled on board

On the Moroccan side the formalities happen during the passage rather than in a queue ashore. Tanger Med sets out the sequence for arrivals: passports are stamped on board while the ship is under way, checked by police as passengers leave the vessel, and luggage or vehicles pass customs afterwards. Every traveller has to appear in person before the border officers, so nobody can carry a family's documents through on their behalf. A valid passport, national identity card or residence permit is required.

The long crossings, and when they pay

Three Spanish ports trade sea time against driving time. Motril has a daily Balearia sailing to Tanger Med and Armas Trasmediterránea ships to Nador and Al Hoceima, landing you in the Rif without the run down to the Strait. Almería to Nador is the heaviest of the eastern routes and normally an overnight passage. From Barcelona, GNV needs around 31 hours to Tanger Med and 27 to 30 hours to Nador, which buys back a thousand kilometres of Spanish motorway. For eastern Morocco that arithmetic works; for Tangier it seldom does.